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Sl'MMKRVII,LK,  S.   C,  July  3(1.   ISfil. 
Dkar   Sll! — 

At   tlie  solifitatioii    of  many   incinliers  of  the   Corporation   of  the  Suininorvillc 

Presbyterian  Churc-h,  we  recjuest  you  to  allow  ns  to  have  the  Seruion  delivered  hy 

you  on  Thanksgivii)!^  Sunday.  July  28.  for  publication. 

Very  truly, 

A.  CAMPBELL. 
A.  FOGARTIE. 
JNO.  R.  DUKES. 
To 

Rev.  C.  S.Vkiuicr. 


"#)|jr  unto  d5o(l  ihanksr|iL'ini)." 


A.    SERjyiON 


DEL'IVERED    IX    THE 


SUMMERVILLE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 


Ox  Sunday,  July  28,  1861. 


E  E  Y  .    C  .    S  .  Ve  D  D  E  E 


CHARLESTON: 

STEAM-POWER     r  K  E  S  S  E  S    OF     EVANS      i      COGSWELL, 
No.  3  liroid  anil  103  Kast  Bay  Street. 

1801. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 
in  2010  with  funding  from 
Dul<e  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/offeruntogodthanOOvedd 


S  E  R  iM  0  N 


XT 


"  Offer  unto  God  Thanksgiving." — Psahn  I,  14. 

There  is  a  great  Christian  duty  which  is  Init  imperfectly 
apprehended,  and  tlierefore  hut  partially  fulfilled.  It  is 
that  of  Thanksgiving.  Great  spiritual  or  temporal  neces- 
sities drive  us  to  the  cross.  God  is  entreated  for  us;  our 
prayers  are  answered,  and  we  turn  from  Him  with  little  or 
no  just  sense  of  the  ohligation  to  acknowledg<3  His  good- 
ness. There  is  sometimes,  perhaps,  a  latent  feeling  that 
the  answer  is  given  as  a  reward  of  faith,  and  that  the 
faith  itself  honors  God,  and  therefore  no  further  expres- 
sion is  required.  In  the  Old  Testament  history  we  find 
that  every  signal  deliverance  or  hlessiug  called  out  from 
the  people  of  God  songs  of  devout  gratitude.  The  loft- 
iest strains  of  poetry  that  ever  sounded  in  our  world 
were  struck  out  from  the  hearts  of  His  people  hy  God's 
merciful  interpositions.  The  space  occupied  in  the  word 
of  God  hy  songs  of  Thanksgiving,  suggest  to  us  the 
importance  of  this  duty  in  His  sight.  Thank-offerings 
were  as  much  a  part  of  the  old  dispensation  as  offerings 
for  sin — indeed,  one  w^as  regarded  as  the  necessary  con- 
sequent of  the  other.  In  the  New  Testament,  how  ten- 
derly reproachful,  and  yet  how  emphatic  was  the  surprise 
expressed    hy  our   hlessed    Lord,  that   of   the   ten    lepers 


TH.&5C>T 


cleansed  by  Ilim,  hut  one  returned  to  give  thanks — and 
lie  was  not  a  Jew,  but  a  Samaritan  ?  How  carefully 
does  He  urge  those  upon  whom  His  miracles  of  hearing 
had  been  performed  to  go  and  render  the  offering  of 
Thanksgiving  which  "Moses  commanded  in  the  law." 
As  a  personal  Christian  duty,  Thanksgiving  is  everywhere 
enjoined  in  the  divine  word. 

It  is  also  a  national  dut}-.  Special  daj's  of  Thanks- 
giving have  marked  Christian  countries  from  the  begin- 
ning. Our  own  has  been  specially  distinguished  in  this 
respect.  The  propriety  of  national  praise  for  national 
blessings  has  been  so  long  acknowledged ;  the  good 
which  has  always  attended  the  observance  of  such  occa- 
sions is  so  thoroughly  understood,  that  it  cannot  be  ne- 
cessary to  spend  time  in  dwelling  upon  them. 

In  the  words  of  the  text,  the  .Psalmist  urges  to  the 
performance  of  the  duty,  and  directs  to  wliom  thanks 
should  be  given.  Though  we  are  called  upon  by  an 
authority,  wliich  we  gladly  recognize,  tp  give  thanks  for 
an  especial  object  to-day,  it  may  not  be  unprofitable  to 
consider  the  subjects  which,  besides  this,  call  upon  us  for 
an  expression  of  devoyt  gratitude.  We  liavo  already  ob- 
served two  days  of  solemn  fast  and  humiliation  before 
God,  and,  until  now,  but  one  of  Thanksgiving.  I  will 
be  pardoned,  therefore,  for  making  the  occasion  one  to 
recall  to  your  minds  and  my  own  some  of  the  reasons 
whicli  demand  from  us  general  Thanksgiving,  as  well  as 
to  improve  it  for  the  special  object  which  gives  tone  to 
this  Sabbath  service. 

A  natural  division  of  the  subject  suggests  the  causes, 
the  OBJECT,  and  the  manifestation  of  Thanksgiving. 

So  many  causes  of  gratitude  present  themselves,  that 


it  is  difficult,  briefly,  to  comprehend  tliem.  Tlioy  luav 
be  classified,  however,  as  "The  gifts  of  nature,  of  Pro- 
vidence and  of  Grace." 

What  cause  has  the  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States 
for  Thanksgiving  in  the  unparalleled  abundance  of  the 
cereal  crop  which  has  blessed  the  labors  of  the  husband- 
man ?  Within  her  own  bounds,  the  young  republic  has 
harvested  that  which  is  confidently  believed  to  be  suffi- 
cient for  two  years'  consumption  of  her  whole  people. 
The  garners  groan  with  the  "  riches  of  the  wheat,"  and 
the  future  is  made  to  look  bright  with  a  glorious  prom- 
ise, despite  the  cftbrts  of  a  powerful  and  unnatural  foe 
to  darken  it.  Xaturc,  always  prodigal  here,  has  even 
outdone  herself  in  the  profusion  of  her  ])ounty.  The 
great  staple  productions  of  the  climate — those  especiallv 
by  which  Southern  commerce  has  been  sustained,  extend- 
ed and  made  a  necessity  to  the  world,  bid  fair  to  yield 
their  accustomed  fulness.  The  rain,  long  withheld,  has 
descended  abundantly  upon  the  thirsty  earth,  and  it  has 
responded  with  grateful  alacrity,  giving  its  vital  energy 
to  sustain  and  mature  the  plant  and  stalk — sending  forth 
"bread  to  the  eater,  and  seed  to  the  sower."  ThouMi 
there  may  be  some  spots  which  look  up  in  vain  for  the 
needful  shower,  yet  there  comes  up  from  the  country,  as 
a  whole,  the  sound  of  abundance  of  rain.  The  few  un- 
watered  miles  but  serve  to  illustrate  the  greatness  of  that 
mercy  which,  if  entirely  Avithheld,  would  have  turned  this 
fair  land  into  a  waste,  and  destroyed  it  without  the  pres- 
ence of  an  invading  foe. 

Nature  has  given  to  the  Southern  character  features 
which  mark  it  with  peculiar  distinctness  from  all  other. 
Not  born    under   Southern  skies,  and   not   biassed,  it   is 


believed,  even  l>y  unconscious  prejudice,  the  speaker  may 
be  permitted  to  toudi  without  indelicacy  upon  a  subject 
80  delicate.  Always  a  close  observer  of  the  peculiar 
feature  of  its  character,  long  before  permitted  the  privil- 
ege of  intimate  association  with  it,  he  may  be  allowed  to 
speak  of  the  South  as  he  has  found  it,  disclaiming  all 
jtartiality,  save  that  which  is  necessarily  the  offspring  of 
grateful  remembrance  of  kindness,  and  which  is  itself  the 
most  satistying  confirmation  of  his  views — that  partiality 
itself  could  have  had  no  existence  but  for  the  causes  which 
engendered  it;  and  it  is  of  these  he  speaks. 

Tradition  says,  that  a  man  whose  soul  was  attuned  to 
tliL'  highest  note  of  freedom,  who  had  tlie  genius  of  a 
great  artist,  and  all  his  originality  of  thought,  ouce  con- 
ceived the  design  of  constructing  a  musical  instrument 
which  should  be  worthy  to  utter  forth  the  strains  of 
lilicrty.  In  cniliodyiiig  his  coni;eptions,  he  stretched 
across  the  widest  and  wildest  chasm  of  the  Alps  a  suc- 
cession of  bars  of  steel — spanning  thus  two  of  the  lofti- 
est crags  with  a  gigantic  harp.  When  the  ordinary 
breath  of  the  mountain  air  passed  over  the  immense 
strings,  they  gave  forth  no  answering  sound;  the  stronger 
wind  (»f  the  hills  awoke  a  low.  sullen  murmur  in  the  more 
sensitive  chords ;  as  the  fiercer  northern  gale  rushed  be- 
tween the  crags,  the  tone  swelled  and  deepened  like 
that  of  the  distant  thunder;  but  when  the  blast  of  the 
mountain  tornado  swojit  across  the  hai-}»,  it  gave  forth 
a  sound  so  ^\■il(l,  loud,  long  and  terrible,  that  the  moun- 
tain chamois  fled  to  his  covert  in  affright,  and  as  the 
sound  lea})ed  from  crag  to  crag,  the  untamed  eagle  of  the 
Alps,  with  erected  crest  and  swelling  breast,  stopped 
midway   in    his    ujjward   flight    to  hear. 


Thus  has  nature  strung  the  Southern  harp,  attuned  to 
breathe  forth  only  the  notes  of  freedom,  yet,  too  great 
and  self-poised  to  wake  to  the  common  breath  of  po- 
litical opposition,  it  gave  forth  no  sound;  when  a  selfish, 
antagonistic  policy  sought  to  shackle  the  free  limbs  of 
commerce,  the  deep,  low  murmur  of  the  more  sensitive 
chords  shadowed  fortli  the  power  that  lay  hid  within; 
when  the  gale  of  sectionalism  passed  over  its  strings,  the 
sound  deepened  to  the  thunder  tone  ;  but  when  the  north- 
ern blast  of  coercion  swept  through  the  hills,  there  burst 
forth  a  response  so  wild,  long  and  fearful  from  every 
string  of  the  mighty  harp,  that  the  frightened  yEolus,  who 
had  unchained  the  winds,  shrunk  back  into  his  cave 
aghast,  and  the  nations  of  the  earth  stood  still  in  mute 
amazement. 

N"ature  has  given  that  stern  sense  of  right ;  that  chiv- 
alric  courtesy  and  lofty  self-sacrificing  patriotism  which 
has  made  the  Southern  name  a  synonym  for  honor,  hos- 
pitality and  valor. 

This  is  not  the  place,  nor  is  this  the  day  for  self-glori-' 
fication.  We  come  rather  to  glorify  God.  Yet  it  may 
be  permitted,  to  this  extent  at  least,  to  call  to  mind  so 
great  a  cause  of  Thanksgiving  to  God  as  that  He  has 
given  us  a  name  and  place  among  such  a  people,  in  such 
a  land. 

If  the  great  orator  could  exclaim,  wath  patriotic  fervor, 
at  Bunker  Hill:  "Thank  God,  I  am  an  American!" 
those  whose  lot  it  is  to  owe  allegiance  to  the  Confed- 
erate Government  may  find  in  that  fact  a  higher  and 
grander  subject  of  Thanksgiving. 

We  owe    thanks  to  God  to-day  for — 

2d.    The  gifts  of  Hi^  inovidence.     Was   it  accident  that 


8 

peopled  this  eoimuoiiwealtli,  aiul  its  original  Soutliorn 
sisters,  with  a  race  brave,  generous  and  noble  ?  Is  it 
accident  that  has  ko]»t  tlieni  from  the  spirit  of  greed 
and  selfishness  ?  If  the  hand  of  Providence  is  plainl}' 
visible  in  those  events  by  which  tliis  fertile  land  was 
fnrnished  with  the  peculiar  labor  nccessarv  for  its  pro- 
ductiveness, is  it  not  also  seen  in  giving  to  that  class  of 
laborers  masters  in  whom  weie  found  all  the  higliest 
traits  of  generosity  and  hunianity,  rather  tliaii  those  who 
would  coin  human  muscles  and  sinews  into  gold,  and 
then  leave  the  worn  instruments  of  their  success  to  rot 
in  destitution  and  desertion  ?  Can  we  see  a  great  mul- 
titude brought  from  heathenish  barl)arity  and  want  to 
civilization  and  jdenty;  Ironi  ignorance  of  all  religion  to 
the  possession  of  the  only  true  faith,  and  not  feel  that 
Providence  has  dealt  kindly  with  them  and  us,  and 
claims  for  this  our  unfeigned  gratitude  ?  Even  the  in- 
fidel soul  of  David  Hume  could  find  cause  for  thankful- 
ness to  God  in  the  iiut  that  lie  was  not  born  a  savage, 
and  in  a  benighted  land.  Your  country,  dear  hearer, 
might  have  been  some  desolate  waste  ;  some  frozen  steppe 
or  burning  sand.  Instead  of  a  garden  of  beauty  and 
plenty,  some  bleak,  barren  coast  might  have  claimed  you 
as  its  own.  Is  there  not  al)nndant  cause  of  thankful- 
ness in  the  ])rc)vi(lenlial  allotment  wliieh  makes  this  your 
home? 

We  should  thank  God  for — 

3d.  TI(C  (lifts  of  His  grace.  The  soul  which  this  thought 
will  not  kindle  into  gratitude  must  be  dead  indeed.  The 
gifts  of  grace  may  be  comprehensively  included  in  the 
words  "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  lie  gave  His  only 
begotten  •  son,    that   whosoever   believeth    on    Ilim    might 


9 

not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Yet  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  inestimable  gift  is  not  everywhere  equally 
possessed,  nor  is  the  power  to  act  in  accordance  with 
it  everywhere  similarl}^  enjoyed.  How  many  lands  lie 
n  utter  darkness  ?  How  many  have  but  just  begun  to 
see  the  light?  How  few  are  there  where  it  shines  unob- 
scured  by  craft,  or  priest,  or  State  ?  It  may  be  said, 
without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  no  country  of  the 
world  presents  the  full  realization  of  religious  liberty 
ike  our  own.  We  have  a  pure  Gospel.  It  is  spread 
broadcast  throughout  the  land;  preached  freely  and  full}- 
to  all  who  will  hear.  Xo  trammel  has  yet  been  in- 
vented for  our  consciences.  His  own  vine  and  lig  tree 
may  be  every  man's  sanctuary,  if  he  so  wills,  and  there 
can  be  absolutely  nothing  to  molest  or  make  him  afraid. 
His  belief  is  a  matter  wholly  between  him  and  his  God. 
The  charter  of  our  Confederacy  recognizes  its  depend- 
ence upon  God  in  the  first  sentence ;  our  laws  are 
framed  in  the  spirit  of  the  laws  of  God;  our  law  makers 
acknowledge  the  great  truth  that  "  he  that  ruleth  over 
men  should  be  just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God."  The 
word  we  are  called  to  preach  to  you  is  not  a  refined, 
philosophical  system,  originating  in  a  wisdom  professing 
to  be  superior  to  that  of  Christ,  and  so  sublimated  by 
nice  distinctions,  so  chilled  by  lifeless  speculation,  that 
it  is  worthless  to  fill,  and  powerless  to  warm  the  heart. 
In  the   soil  of  our  simple  faith,  is77is  can  take  no  root. 

And  this  inestimable  Gospel  is  given,  this  proclama- 
tion of  eternal  life  is  made  to  us  all,  dear  hearers.  This 
fountain  is  widely  open,  and  whosoever  will,  let  him 
come  and  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely.     Witness,  O 


10 

heavens,  and  you,  O  eartli,  what  cause  we  liave  for  grati- 
tude to-day  ill  the  gifts  of  grace  ! 

But  we  have  another  and  a  sj>erial  call  for  praise.  By 
the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  we  are 
sunini<»ned  to-day  to  express  our  thankfulness  to  the 
King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords  for  the  success  of 
our  arms.  In  compliance  with  a  resolution  as  beautiful 
and  eloquent  in  expression  as  it  is  wise  and  timely  iu 
conception,  we  are  recommended  to  give  appropriate 
manifestation  to  the  feeling  which  pervades  all  hearts 
in  the  Confederacy.  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  never  en- 
tered upon   any  duty  with    more    cheerful    alacrity. 

One  week  ago  to-day.  whilst  we  were  gatjiered  here 
f(»r  ]»ul)lic  worship,  and  whilst  our  prayers  were  mingling 
with  many  thousand  others  for  their  success,  our  friends 
had  met  and  were  contending  with  the  invader  in  the 
field.  That  calm.  Sabbath  sky  looked  down  upon  a  fiekl 
of  carnage  such  as  this  continent  never  before  witnessed. 
Though  opposed  by  greatly  superior  odds,  the  Confede- 
rate ami}'  rushed  forward  to  meet  the  advancing  enemy, 
and,  after  a  struggle  that  lasted  through  all  the  hours  of 
that  holy  (hiy,  hurled  him  back  defeated  and  dismayed. 
Every  soldier  seems  to  have  been  nerved  Avith  a  lii)n's 
courage,  and  to  have  fought  as  thougli  Soutliern  inde- 
pendence hung  upon  his  own  individual  prowess.  Offi- 
cers vied  with  each  other  for  the  place  of  danger;  all 
fought  as  they  alone  can  who  strike  for  their  "  altars 
and  their  fires;  the  green  graves  of  their  sires;  God  and 
their  nati\'e  land."  The  victory  was  as  complete  as  the 
valor  which  won  it,  and  the  cause  wliich  it  vindicated, 
deserved.  Those  who  came  to  exult  over  an  easy  con- 
quest returned — those  wlio  did  return  at  all — discomfited, 


11 

demoralized.  The  coat  of  arms  of  tlie  sovereign  State 
wliose  soil  was  thus  desecrated  by  a  hostile  foot,  repre- 
sents a  warrior  with  his  foot  upon  the  neck  of  his 
enemy,  with  the  motto,  '^  sic  semper  tyrannis !'' — "thus 
may  it  ever  be  with  tyrants !"  These  words  were  fear- 
fully illustrated  b}'  the  almost  lightning  flash  which 
struck  to  the  earth  the  misguided  young  oflicer  who 
first  dared  to  lay  sacrilegious  hands  upon  the  Confede- 
rate flag  upon  the  soil  of  the  Old  Dominion ;  they  have 
received  a  far  more  memorable  commentary  in  the  vic- 
tory at  Manassas!  "Thus  may  it  ever  be  with  tyrants!" 
It  is  a  striking  indication  of  the  spirit  with  which  this 
im})ortant  triumph  is  regarded,  that  it  has  been  nowhere 
greeted  with  noisy  demonstration.  A  boastful  foe  press- 
es forward  in  what  is  fondl}^  believed  by  them  to  be  an 
overwhelming  force.  They  come,  urged  by  their  influ- 
ential journals  to  regard  among  their  first  duties  that  of 
hanging  the  beloved  chiefs  of  the  Confederate  troops  in 
sight  of  their  advancing  columns.  Their  insolent  threats 
are  met  in  calm  silence ;  their  onward  advance  is  checked 
by  an  entrenchment  of  patriotic  breasts ;  their  fierce  blows 
meet  a  fiercer  return ;  their  sudden  pause  of  astonish- 
ment is  changed  into  a  precipitate  flight,  and  the  day 
closes  upon  a  victory  for  the  right  which  is  almost  with- 
out a  parallel.  Yet  there  is  no  extravagant  manifesta- 
tion of  jo}'.  The  chosen  rulers  of  the  people,  in  session 
near  the  place  of  action,  no  sooner  receive  authentic  in- 
telligence of  the  result,  than  they  hasten  to  ascribe  all 
honor  to  God,  as  He  alone  who  had  given  the  victory, 
and  to  recommend  that  all  worshipping  assemblies  in 
the  Confederacy  devote  this  day  to  the  same  grateful 
duty.     I  confess  that    the  moral   sublimity  of  this    spec- 


12 

tacle  impresses  no  less  than  it  cheers  me.  This  is  not 
the  place,  if  there  were  time  to  give  expression  to  the 
swelling  thoughts  with  wliicli  this  great  victory  inspires 
us  all.  AVe  can  hut  give  joyful  heed  to  the  recommen- 
dation of  our  rulers,  and  in  heart  and  with  voice  praise 
Ilim  to  whom  alone  it  is  due.  "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord, 
not  unto  us,  unto  thy  name  he  all  the  glory." 

But  we  cannot  forget  those  whose  lives  have  heen  so 
freely  given  for  their  country.  The  ti-iunipli  is  dearl}' 
hought  I  The  path  to  this  great  hles.sing  has  been  over 
the  lifeless  forms  of  some  of  the  hravest  and  best.  Their 
country'  will  do  lionor  to  their  memories,  and  enshrine 
their  names  within  her  heart  of  hearts.  She  will  write 
their  record  where  patriotic  love  will  often  turn  aside 
to  read  it,  and,  inspired  hy  the  words,  emulate  their 
noble  heroism,  and  sigh  for  as  honorable  graves.  But 
there  are  some  hearts  to  Avhom  these  cheering  thoughts 
will  he  hut  a  momentary  balm.  The  country  has  other 
and  nobler  sons,  who  will  stc})  fearlessly  into  the  places 
so  sadly  vacant,  and  she  will  press  forward  in  the  pur- 
suit of  her  great  purpose.  But  what  will  fill  the  aching 
void  of  a  parent's,  widow's,  daughter's  heart  ?  The  re- 
turn of  peace,  of  independence,  of  tranquility  and  pros- 
]ierity  to  the  country  upon  whose  altar  their  sacrifice 
was  laid,  will  but  remind  them  at  how  feai'l'nl  a  price 
to  them  was  the  great  boon  purchased.  Those  with  vvhom 
they  hoped  to  rejoice  in  the  realized  dream  of  Southern 
independence  have  fallen  in  its  achievement,  and  they 
shall  walk  alone  and  desolate  on  earth  for  all  that  re- 
mains to  them  yet  of  a  weary  way.  Let  us  l)id  them 
turn  humbly  to  Ilim  who  delights  to  bind  up  the  broken 
heart.     Let  us  assure  them  that  their  sorrow  is  our  sor- 


13 

row;  "that  the  heart  of  the  whole  country  beats  heavily 
at  the  portals  of  the  tomb "  where  their  dear  ones  are 
laid,  and  bid  them  find  in  a  nation's  sympathy  some 
compensation  for  the  hearts  that  shall  beat  close  to  their 
own  no  more  on  earth  forever.  Ma}-  God  comfort  the 
desolate  heart,  whilst  man  honors  its  affliction,  and  a 
nation  unites  in  its  tears. 

"  How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest 
By  all  their  country's  wishes  blest ! 
When   Spring,  with  dew}-  finders  cold, 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallowed  mould, 
She  there  shall  dress  a  greener  sod 
Than  Fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 
There  Honor  comes,  a  pilgrim  gray, 
To  bless  the  turf  that  Avraps  their  clay, 
And  Freedom  shall  awhile  repair, 
To  dwell  a  weeping  hermit  there  !" 

The  object  of  Thanksgiving  is  God.  "Oifer  unto  God 
Thanksgiving."  Although  this  great  truth  has  been  as- 
sumed, and,  indeed,  asserted  in  all  that  has  been  said, 
yet  it  is  proper  that  it  be  specially  regarded.  It  is  God 
alone  who  has  fought  our  battles.  It  was  He  who 
wrought  the  miracle  of  Sumter ;  it  was  He  who  gave 
to  the  counsels  of  the  enemy  the  spirit  of  confusion  and 
folly  which  has  made  them  the  byword  of  diplomacy;  it 
was  He  who  bade  "the  stars  in  their  courses"  fight 
against  the  hostile  fleet ;  it  was  He  who  has  given  us  a 
government  endued  with  wisdom,  and  enshrined  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  ;  commanders  whose  peers  are  scarce- 
ly to  be  found  in  the  world,  whilst  the  enemy  are  led 
by  those  whose  incapacity  makes  them  ridiculous  even 
in  the  e^'es  of  their  friends.  He  has  given  us  soldiers 
fired  with  burning  zeal  and  patriotic  courage,  and  whose 
squadrons   breast  the   hostile   shock  like  a  granite  wall; 


14 

lie  lias  irivon  to  tlie  wliole  itoojile  a  si)ii-it  of  praycM'ful 
determination  and  reliance  upon  Himself  which  assures 
ultimate  success,  though  the  odds  he  fearful.  It  was 
He  who  gave  the   victory  at  Manassas. 

The   manifcMatmi  of  Thanksgiving. 

This  may  be  properly  made  as  we  make  it  tii-day.  by 
juihlic  recognition  of  God's  liaiid.  This,  liowcvcr,  is  not 
all.  AVhat  has  been  already  achieved  has  licen  in  an- 
swer to  prayer.  In  some  cases  the  an.swer  has  been  so 
literal  as  to  astonish  even  the  most  confiding  faith.  Let 
our  gratitude  be  made  manifest  by  increased  confidence 
in  God:  in  new  assurance  of  His  readiness  to  hear  wlien 
we  call.  If  Fort  Sumter  stood,  before  the  bondiardment, 
a  monument  of  Carolina  faith  with  a  double-dealing  gov- 
ernment, it  stands  to-day  an  evidence  even  more  strik- 
ing of  God's  faithfulness  to  answer  prayer.  Whilst  its 
walls  frown  defiance  upon  the  invader,  let  no  Southern 
Christian  lose  trust  in  the  Almighty ;  let  none  despair 
of  the  young  repul)lic.  It  is  possible  that  the  worst  is 
yet  to  come.  The  very  magnitude  of  the  triumph  already 
achieved  may,  and  probably  will,  lead  to  almost  super- 
human eftbrts  to  retrieve  the  loss.  Reverses  may  come ; 
after  such  signal  interpositions  in  our  favor,  God  may 
try  us,  to  see  whether  we  are  truly  prepared  to  trust 
Ilim,  even  though  He  slay  us.  It  is  sometimes  His 
way  with  nations.  It  niay  be  with  us.  Should  it  so 
prove,  let  not  our  faith  fail ;  a  fiery  trial  may  be  neces- 
sary to  the  future  perpetuity  and  excellence  of  the  new 
nation,  iKithing  is  lost  whilst  conHdeiicc  in  God  re- 
mains. II'  we  I'ighiiy  ini})i'()ve  this  day,  we  shall  1)6 
enabled    to    exclaim    with    the    prophet: 

"  Though  the   fig  tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall 


15 

fruit  be  in  the  vine ;  the  hibor  of  the  olive  shall  fail 
and  the  field  shall  yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be 
cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the 
stall,  yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  joy  in  the  God 
of   my  salvation." 

Every  heart  here  to-day  is  thankful !  Are  all  prepared 
to  say  that  they  will  manifest  it  in  the  manner  indi- 
cated ?  There  arc  some  who  have  not  learned  to  pray 
for  themselves.  How  can  they  plead  with  God  for  their 
country  ?  They  have  never  given  thanks  for  their  own 
salvation — can  their  Thanksgiving  be  acceptable  to  God 
for  that  of  the  nation?  ]\Iay  they  not  justl}-  ask  them- 
selves whether  it  is  not  their  sin  which  has  brought 
judgment  upon  us ;  whether  their  want  of  faith  has  not 
hindered  the  faith  of  others?  Whether  their  praise  is 
not  abomination?  And  will  thev  stand  louder  in  this 
position  ?  The  deliverance  of  your  country  will  be  no 
blessino;  to  vou  if  vour  soul  is  still  in  fetters. 

May  God  give  3^ou  grace  to  seek  the  onlj-  true  liberty — 
that  of  the  children  of  God. 

And  now,  dear  hearers,  in  conclusion,  let  this  motto 
be  inscribed  upon  our  hearts  as  individuals,  and  on  our 
banners  as  a  people,  and  no  weapon  formed  against  us 
can   prosper  : 

"Our    God,    Our    Glory!" 


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